Costco Amex Backdating?

Costco Amex Backdating?

Just a quick clarification of the backdating policy. My mother had an Amex charge back in the 90s, but closed the account a while ago. She was just approved for the Costco Amex, and at my suggestion, she called to inquire about backdating. However, the CSR told her that he could not find her account. Is backdating only a possibility when you've maintained an account open continuously? Or is the Costco Amex ineligible for backdating?

Perhaps I misunderstood the premise, but I'm just wondering if there's any fine print to the whole backdating thing.

Re: Costco Amex Backdating?

No, the account does not have to be open continuously in order for Amex to backdate. I had a card that was closed back in 1991. In May of 2011 they sent me an offer to apply for a Green and I was approved. With no prompting from me, the account appeared on their web portal backdated to my original member date of 1987. I would recommend that you have her call again.

Re: Costco Amex Backdating?

I haven't followed all the Amex backdating threads in a while, and I remember some posts about alleged changes (though with how inconsistently the policy is applied, I take everything with a grain of salt).

In short, I think she should be eligible, but if Amex can't find record of her account, it is up to you to prove she had one. It would help if you had the account number. EX reports have a number on them that is not the account number but they can sometimes use it to locate an account. I had an old EX report and gave them that number and they were able to find mine. You can always ask them to reinvestigate, but remember, you're talking about a 22 year old account. Records do get lost.

Re: Costco Amex Backdating?

Fair point, Walt, but one would think that an accountholder's social would be the fastest way to lookup their account records...

I'll see if she has any of her old Amex statements, although they would be as old as I am.

Right, and for most people this happens automatically, as per tinuviel's response above. But think about all the changes that have happened in that time. The number of times Amex has probably migrated data first from paper records to electronic, then through various system upgrades, to new servers, etc. Some people slip through the cracks.

Re: Costco Amex Backdating?

I started a thread a few weeks ago about my experiences trying to get backdating on a card I had in the 80s. I was initially told that Amex no longer backdates if the card has been inactive >5 years. I was later told they couldn't find my records. I was finally told that old records are archived and only the credit/collections department has access to records that old. CSRs couldn't see it. I eventually was told by a supervisor that he would send a message to that department and if they could find my record, I'd get backdating. I got the backdating (1988), so either they just changed it to get me to stop calling, or they found my record. If this is important to you, you will likely have to call several times (or your mom, really) and be persistent, but polite. Give as many details (what card, when opened, what used for, why closed) as possible. You can also search the archives for numerous other people and the strategies they have used.

Re: Costco Amex Backdating?

shakalaka wrote:

It reports the new account as if it would have been opened that long. So your AAOA will not drop with a new account but could even increase

Exactly. And if it's backdated to a really old account, it is very valuable. My Amex is backdated to 1987, so last year I picked up 24 years worth of history and it anchored my age of oldest account all the way back to that year. It was a help, rather than a ding, to the age of accounts factor of my credit scores.

Re: Costco Amex Backdating?

I had an AMEX in 1992, kept it for years, got in trouble, paid it off but they closed it ( I think that happened in 2004 or 2005). I don't remember any of my credit reports saying "Closed by Creditor", they just said "Closed" and it was paid off.

I just applied and was approved for the Costco TE. My average FICO is about 720. I haven't recieved the card so don't know if it will be backdated. If it is not, should I ask them to? Reason I ask is they closed the first account, not me. Will this open up a can of worms?

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